Weekend Wrap-Up

We're officially back from our mini vacation! We had a great time and are a little sad that it's over. Our consolation is that we get to look forward to this kind of thing once a month (if we so choose)! At Jason's previous job he couldn't have 1 week of vacation until he had been there for a year and two weeks of vacation after 5 years of employment (incidentally, he never made that...). Now he will be able to have 1 week of vacation this year and 2 weeks next year, AND we get a 4-day weekend every month! Sweet!

So, Friday, we headed out of town and drove up to Jacksonville...

My sister, Tami, had ordered some awesome BBQ for dinner, and after we ate, we headed over to the church for the graduation ceremony. This was a ceremony for home-schooled graduates, and there were three girls graduating including my niece, Sarah. Each of the fathers of the graduates were able to speak at the beginning of the ceremony, and I don't know how they made it through. I would have been a ball of tears. (I don't even want to think about any of mine leaving the house yet.) =(

Sarah sang (mostly solo) with the other two graduating girls a very popular graduation song, "Friends." The girls' youth pastor gave the message, and then the fathers of the girls each were able to give the diploma to their own daughter. At the end of the ceremony, my dad gave some closing remarks and then closed in prayer. After the ceremony we headed over to the gym for refreshments and fellowship. Eventually, we all changed into our "play clothes" and played volleyball for 3 or 4 hours! That was so much fun, and we weren't a bit sore the next few days! (Ha Ha!!)

Saturday, we got to hang out at Tami and George's house for a little while. As you can see in the pictures, most everyone was fascinated by the Wii game being played. My sister, Tami, was telling us about the new Wii Fit. It sounds pretty cool!

Our plans changed for the weekend, and we decided to come back in time to take the girls to Busch Gardens on Monday. Larissa has just recently become tall enough to ride some of the bigger rides (Gwazi to be specific), and she has just been itching to ride it! She and Alyx are both little dare devils! They both love the front row and will wait as long as it takes to ride there. =) Truth is...Jason and I would, too! We weren't very smart, though, because we got there first thing in the morning (along with the rest of the park visitors) and immediately went to Gwazi which is the first roller coaster in the park. We waited in line for an hour and a half! That was the hottest hour and a half I've spent in a long time, but it was worth it. Larissa was so excited, and she thoroughly enjoyed the ride! Later that day they were able to get right on the ride with only a few minutes waiting time. Next time we'll know better...you live and learn! =)

Here are a few pictures from our day. Enjoy!